Campus journalism - copyreading and headline writing

1. 1. July 11, 2012 Blessed Children Integrated SchoolResource Speaker: Mr. Antonio Delgado
2. 2. Material for a newspaper or magazine article The text as written by the author
3. 3. It is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and type of news It is
also called copyediting. One who edits copies is called a copyreader or copyeditor
4. 4. 1) edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses, agreement, etc.)2) edits errors of fact
(accuracy check)3) edits verbose copy4) deletes opinion or slant and libelous statements5)
writes the headline
5. 5. Symbol Instruction Example
6. 6. Symbol Instruction Example
7. 7. Symbol Instruction Example
8. 8. Symbol Instruction Example
9. 9. Symbol Instruction Example
10. 10. Thenumbers 1 9 are written in words while the numbers 10 and above are written in
figures.Example: nine students 13 children
11. 11. EXCEPTIONS: dates, address: always in figures. proper nouns: may be written in
figures/words beginning of sentence: always in words events: 1st 9th is allowed
12. 12. Look for misspelled words. Here in the Philippines, American English is used, not
British English.Ex: color, not colour If a word has more than one accepted spelling, the
shortest one is preferred.Ex: judgment, instead of judgement
13. 13. The first letter of the sentence is always capitalized. Proper nouns are capitalized,
common nouns are not.Ex: singer Regine Velasquez
14. 14. Small letters are usually used for title or position.Ex: Mrs. Cecilia Burayag, the
principal of BCIS, delivered the opening remarks. Capitalized titles: Governor Umali
15. 15. Spell out Dept., govt, and other abbreviations. The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are
allowed in names. Remember:Engr. Emmanuel Delgado; Engineer Delgado12 Dimagiba
St.; Dimagiba Street
16. 16. A title or position of a person may be abbreviated if it appears before the name but not
if simply used in the sentence:Ex: Sen. Recto filed another taxation bill yesterday. The
senator filed another taxation bill yesterday.
17. 17. Acronyms are usually written in capital letters.Example: BCIS Check if the letters of
the acronym are in the correct order.
18. 18. When an acronym appears for the first time in a news story, it is written after its
meaning and it is enclosed in parentheses.Ex: University of the Philippines (UP)
19. 19. The first sentence of a paragraph is indented. In news stories, the rule is one
paragraph, one sentence only.
20. 20. There should be no names of unknown persons in the lead. Check for buried
leads. The standard lead answers the 5 Ws and 1 H.
21. 21. Check for errors in: Tenses of Verbs Subject-Verb Agreement Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement (agreement in gender and number) Articles (a, an, the)

22. 22. Remember: he said and not said he; Aquino said and not said AquinoRemember:
three-day training andnot three-days training. Trained for three days and nottrained for threeday.
23. 23. It is used at the end of declarative and imperative sentences. It is used in
abbreviations such as p.m., a.m., Jr., Sr., Pres., Sen., Rep., Gov., Gen., Capt., Dr., Fr., Atty.,
Corp., and Inc. Acronyms of schools, organizations and offices do not need periods.
24. 24. Use commas: to separate the month and day from the year. to separate the street,
barangay, town and province in an address to separate facts concerning victims and
suspects.Ex: Jolas Burayag, 17, of Barangay San Fernando Norte
25. 25. Do not use commas: to separate the abbreviation Jr., Sr., or III from the name.Ex:
Emmanuel Delgado Jr.
26. 26. Use hyphen: in most compound nounsEx: editor-in-chief, officer-in-charge in
fractionsEx: two-thirds, three-fourths in numeralsEx: twenty-two, fifty-nine
27. 27. Quotation marks are used in direct quotations. Indirect quotations do not need
them.Ex. I forgot it, he said. He said he forgot it. Periods and commas are written first
before closing quotation marks.Ex. Lets go to SM, the boy said.
28. 28. Quotation marks are used to set off titles of events, shows, movies, books, etc.Ex. We
watched The Titanic. Quotation marks are used to set off an alias or nickname.Ex.
Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. Juan Chua a.k.a. Boy Singkit
29. 29. Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of the noun.Ex. the teachers table the
teachers meeting In contractionsEx. Im (I am) youre (you are)
30. 30. Watch out for jumbled letters, words and paragraphs. Check for joined/disjoined
words.Ex. class room, newteacher Delete editorializing words/phrases.Ex. The very
beautiful and intelligent principal The cops were right in arresting
31. 31. Check for redundancies (recurring words/phrases/paragraphs, synonymous or
redundant terms).Ex. the concert the concert ended REMEMBER: After editing the news
story, write 30 at the end of the article. If the article is not yet finished, write more at the
bottom of the page.
32. 32. an assemblage of words written in bigger, bolder letters than the usual page text at the
beginning of the news it is not a title
33. 33. 1) to attract readers2) to tell the story (in a summary)3) to add variety of type (to break
monotony in a sea of type)4) to identify personality of newspaper (use of font/style of
letters)5) to index/grade the news (big type for important news; small type for less important)
34. 34. 1. First, read the story for general meaning.2. Clues to the headline are usually in the
lead. What happened? Who did what? How did if happen?
35. 35. 3.Use the shortest words possible.Examples include: cop policeman nab arrest
mishap accident up increase down decrease thief - robber
36. 36. 4.Have a subject and a verb. Avoid starting with a verb; the headline might sound as if it
were giving orders.Wrong: Revise money mart guidelinesCorrect: Central Bank revises
money mart guidelines
37. 37. 5.Use the historical present tense if the verb is in the active voice.Wrong: Delgado topped
editorial tiltCorrect: Delgado tops editorial tilt

38. 38. 6.Omit the helping verb if the verb is in the passive voice. Only the past participle is
retained.Wrong: Drug pushers are nabbedCorrect: Drug pushers nabbed
39. 39. 7.Use the infinitive for future events.Wrong: City Hall will punish anti- squatting
driveCorrect: City Hall to punish anti- squatting drive
40. 40. 8.Do not use a period at the end of the headline.9. Omit articles (a, an, the). Wrong: A
fire hits Tondo slum area Correct: Fire hits Tondo slum area
41. 41. 10.Use a comma instead of and in writing headlines.Delays, confusion bug
AsiadLacson, Trillanes no show at SONA
42. 42. 11. Use semicolon to separate sentences.Gina Lopez heads Pasig body;Noy swears in
35 other execs12. Use the punctuation marks (especially the exclamation point) sparingly.
43. 43. 13. Use single quotes () in headlines instead of double quotes ().14. Always give the
source of a quote. Quotation marks are not needed, a dash or a colon will serve the
purpose.Crackdown on errant bus firms EnrileEnrile: Crackdown on errant bus firms
44. 44. 15.Use the down-style only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized, unless
otherwise indicated. This is more readable because people are used to reading sentences
this way.Ex. Faculty honors Nuez
45. 45. Use only widely known16. abbreviations.Wrong: JEE to play Santa thisChristmas
46. 46. Dont use names unless the person17. is well known, use common nouns
instead.Wrong: Santos electrocutedCorrect: Carpenter electrocuted
47. 47. Use specific terms instead of18. generalitiesExample: Trader killedBetter: Trader stabbed
to death
48. 48. 19. Just report the facts; do not editorialize.Wrong: Noy gives inspiring talks(The word
inspiring is just your opinion.)20. Be positive. Dont use negatives in headlines. They
weaken not only the headlines but also the stories.
49. 49. 1. Crossline (one line) and two-part crossline (two lines). XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX2. Dropline (or Stepline)XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
50. 50. 3. Flush leftXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX4. Flush right XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
51. 51. 5. Hanging indentionXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX6. Inverted
PyramidXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
52. 52. 7. Block (flush left and right, from margin to margin) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
53. 53. Thisis the number of lines your headline will haveExample:BCIS bags medals in
NEPEESA quiz bee (1 deck)10 more cops wantedfor Maguindanao massacre (2 decks)
54. 54. A count system considers differences in the widths of letters.Capital letters: Small
letters: M, W 2 units m, w 1 units JLIFT 1 unit jlift unit Others 1 units others
1unit
55. 55. Punctuation marks dash () 1 units question mark (?) 1 unit others - unitNumber
digits 0 to 9 1 unitSpace 1 unit
56. 56. BCIS bags medals in NEPPESA quiz bee B C I S b a g s1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1
(11 units)m e d a l s i n1+1+1+1+1+1+1++1+1 (10 units)
57. 57. BCIS bags medals in NEPPESA quiz bee N E P P E S A1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1
(11 units)q u i z b e e1+1++1+1+1+1+1 (7 units)TOTAL = 11 + 10 + 11 + 7 =
40 units